


Jessica Jones and Spider-Man: Crossed Your Path

by d0d0bird



Series: Marvel: Tales to Tantalize! [3]
Category: Jessica Jones (TV), Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alcoholic Jessica Jones, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Jessica Jones, BAMF Peter Parker, Beating, Big Sister Jessica Jones, Bullying, College Student Peter Parker, Depression, Drunk Jessica Jones, Drunkenness, Dubious Consent, Electrocution, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Evil Felicia Hardy, Felicia Hardy Flirts, First Time, Heartbreak, Humiliation, Hurt Jessica Jones, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Peter Parker, Its Not a Literal Adoption But Still, Jessica Jones Adopts Peter Parker, Jessica Jones Is a Mess, Jessica Jones has Issues, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, POV Peter Parker, Partner Betrayal, Peter Parker & Jessica Jones friendship, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker-centric, Poor Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Jessica Jones, References to Depression, Rejection, Ridicule, Seduction, Sexual Shaming, Shame, Situational Humiliation, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Humiliation, Virgin Peter Parker, Wetting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 16:41:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20910803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d0d0bird/pseuds/d0d0bird
Summary: Spider-Man teams up with the mysterious Black Cat. Unbeknownst to him, she plans to use and humiliate Peter to get what she wants.Unbeknownst to her, Jessica Jones will stop at nothing to punish anyone who harms Peter





	Jessica Jones and Spider-Man: Crossed Your Path

_46th street… 46th street…_ thought Spider-Man to himself, _That should be coming up… There!_

Spider-Man was still getting used to the geography of Hell’s Kitchen; it was pretty far away from campus. Luckily he had a good enough sense of direction to figure it out as he went. He had finally found Jessica’s apartment building and he recognized the corner window that led into her apartment.

Spider-Man swung up to the side of the building and stuck to it. He crawled his way to the window, which was shut with the blinds down, and knocked on it. No response. He knocked on it again.

He heard a slurred “What the hell?” and several seconds later the blinds opened to reveal Jessica. He waved. She glared.

“Go away,” she muttered, walking away without closing the blinds.

Spider-Man took a moment to consider why she might have said that, but his thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash followed by Jessica shouting “shit!” Spider-Man opened the unlocked window and leapt in. 

Jessica was on the floor among shattered glass, spilled booze, her overturned laptop, and two halves of the desk she had just broken in half. She was wearing nothing but sweatpants and a sports bra. She groaned as she rose to her feet, looking at Spider-Man with disgust.

“I said go away,” she muttered, nearly falling over.

“Jessica…” said Spider-Man, “What are you-”

“None of your fucking business…”

He had never seen her so drunk. He had never seen anyone this drunk, certainly not alone. Not to mention it was a Monday evening. He was becoming concerned.

“I just-”

“I was having a rough night so I had a few drinks, okay?” she said loudly, “I didn’t expect company and I certainly didn’t expect to be babysitting!”

Spider-Man let that one slide.

“What made your night so rough?”

“None of your fucking…” Jessica began before letting out a hiccup and stumbling over, narrowly catching herself on the wall.

“Fuck,” she grunted.

“Here,” offered Spider-Man, picking up some broken glass and taking the computer out of the spilled liquor, “Let me just-”

“Don’t fucking touch that!!” shouted Jessica.

Spider-Man, looking back at the laptop, noticed it was open to a news article about some successful startup company. Realizing that this was indeed none of his business, he quickly placed the laptop on the counter and backed away with his hands up.

“Sorry,” he said.

“What are you doing here anyway?”

“I was…” began Spider-Man, choosing his words carefully, “I know it sounds dumb, but I was going to patrol the city tonight and I thought it might be fun to do it as a team, but-”

“Well, clearly that’s not going to happen,” said Jessica, bracing herself against the wall as she swayed back and forth, “So just get the hell out already.”

“I… okay,” surrendered Spider-Man, climbing out the window.

Jessica heard the _thwip_ of Spider-Man shooting a web and swinging away on it. She looked around her apartment. She was too drunk to function, had fallen over through her own desk, and just alienated the only person who had been friendly to her in months. Then she looked at the laptop. The reasons why she had been drinking rushed back to her.

“Fuck!” she screamed, throwing a punch and sending her fist clean through the wall.

***

_She’ll be okay, right?_ Spider-Man thought to himself as he swung through the city, _I mean, she’s an adult. She doesn’t want me-_

“Help! Help!” he heard, “Somebody help!”

Spider-Man turned his head in the direction of the cry and shot a web onto the building nearest the source, pulling himself over and crawling down the side of the building into the alleyway. Sure enough, he saw a woman in a long dress fearfully clutching her purse as a large man walked menacingly toward her.

“Quiet lady,” the man whispered, “or I’m going to have to find a way to shut-”

“Hey, can I ask you something?” asked Spider-Man from just over the man’s head on the wall, “Why is it you guys always do this in alleys? I know seclusion is important and all, but surely you could have SOME originality.”

“Spider-Man!” the thug shouted angrily.

“Fonzie!” shouted Spider-Man back, “We ARE shouting out the names of cool people, right?”

“Why you little-” began the thug, but he didn’t finish the sentence.

The woman he was mugging suddenly leapt into the air and delivered a spinning kick directly to his head, knocking him out cold as he fell face first into the concrete beside him.

“That…” said Spider-Man, “...is not how I expected that to go.

The woman removed her wig and dress, revealing herself to be a slender woman with a black undercut wearing a black spandex suit, boots, and gloves.

“Took you long enough,” she smirked, tossing the disguise aside, “This is the fourth guy I’ve tricked into mugging me tonight. You are not an easy man to get ahold of, Spider-Man!”

“Well I do still have to forward my new mailing address,” said Spider-Man as he leapt to the ground, “Who are you again?”

“Call me Black Cat,” she said, walking toward the exit of the alley, “You’re on patrol, yeah? Superhero stuff?”

“Something like that...” he said cautiously.

“Why the distrust?” asked Black Cat, stopping and turning to look back at him.

“It’s just that in school they always told us not to talk to strangers,” said Spider-Man, “Also, like dozens of people want me dead.”

“Fair enough,” she said, “I’ll lay it out for you. I’m new to this whole New York vigilante thing, but you really seem to have it down. I figured patrolling together would give me an idea of what this life is like.”

“You want me to… train you?”

Black Cat let out a long cackle, concluding with a snort.

“God no!” she laughed, “I can handle myself. I just thought we’d benefit from working together.”

“I…” began Spider-Man before conceding, “Okay, but I’m keeping an eye on you.”

“You really don’t trust me, do you?”

“If you wanted me to trust you, maybe you should’ve picked a name that wasn’t synonymous with bad luck.”

“Touché.”

“Alright,” said Spider-Man, “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but how do you expect to keep up with me when I’m swinging?”

“You mean you’re not willing to carry me?” asked Black Cat with a grin.

“I, uh…”

“Kidding!” said Black Cat with another laugh, “I have a motorcycle parked on the street.”

“Oh yeah,” nodded Spider-Man, “That’s cool too.”

He was glad to hear that. He had almost agreed to carry her.

***

Peter walked across the quad with his hands tightly gripping the straps of his backpack, grinning consistently for the first time in memory. He was in a great mood. He had a full night of sleep for the first time in months as well as the assurance that there was someone else out there helping him protect the city. 

Peter felt the familiar shiver of spider sense that started in the back of his head and sped down his spine. He was being watched. He looked around, quickly identifying the source. Jessica was sitting at the bench across from him in sunglasses and holding a travel mug.

_Good,_ thought Peter with relief, _She’s okay._

“Hey,” said Peter as he approached her, “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.”

“Figures.”

“Hey, about last night...” began Jessica.

“Would you look at that?” cackled Flash Thompson as he and his buddies walked by, “Puny Parker finally found himself a girlfriend. Where’d you find her, Craigslist?”

Flash guffawed at his own joke as Liz and the others laughed along with him, following him as he continued passed Jessica and Peter. Jessica got to her feet and walked towards them.

“Jessica, wait. Don’t-” began Peter.

“Hey asshole!” shouted Jessica, speeding up her walking pace to catch up with them, “How about you-”

Jessica suddenly stopped and clutched her stomach, dropping her mug and spilling coffee all over the ground. Evidently moving so abruptly had been a mistake. She looked around and darted to the nearest trash can, taking her sunglasses off just in time to vomit.

“What’s wrong with her?” whispered Flash to Liz.

“Probably drugs,” she whispered back.

Peter watched as the gang walked off and Jessica coughed out what was left, wiped her mouth on her sleeve, and walked back to Peter, picking her mug off the ground.

“So,” she muttered in embarrassment, avoiding eye contact, “You think we could find somewhere else to talk?”

***

“I’ll get you some water,” said Peter, setting his backpack down, “One sec.”

“No thanks,” grunted Jessica, looking around the dorm, “Nice place. You have a roommate?”

“Not anymore,” sighed Peter, sitting on the side of his bed, “He dropped out. They haven’t moved anyone in to replace him yet so I have the place to myself.”

“Must be nice.”

“It certainly makes my other life easier.”

“I bet.”

“So…” said Peter nervously, “You wanted to talk about-”

“Yeah, so...” said Jessica, “You found me at a low point.”

“Yeah.”

“I had read this…” she continued, visibly uncomfortable, “Article. There’s this guy: Zeke Dias. We went to college together. We… dated. It didn’t turn out so well.”

“Okay.”

“He-” began Jessica, before suddenly pausing. Peter stared at her. She stared back.

“College sucked for me too,” she said plainly.

“I never said college sucked for me.”

“I took an educated guess.”

“I mean you’re not wrong.”

Jessica sighed deeply. She sat on the side of Peter’s bed and buried her face in her hands and ran those hands through her hair, gripping her skull in frustration. This was clearly difficult for her to talk about.

“Zeke wasn’t the kind of person I’d normally go for,” she explained, “He was part of a different crowd. One that didn’t… Let’s say they didn’t appreciate my outlook on life. Uptight rich kids, mostly. There were even rumors that Zeke’s family was involved in organized crime. My sense of humor wasn’t exactly their thing either. When I say it out loud it seems stupid that we were even dating in the first place...”

Jessica stopped, trying to force herself to say the words. Peter waited patiently.

“Let me ask you a question,” said Jessica after a moment, “How did you get your powers?”

“Bitten by a radioactive spider,” said Peter after a moment of consideration, “Why do you ask?”

“You want to know how I got mine?”

“Bitten by a radioactive Danny Trejo?”

“I’m trying to vulnerable, asshole.”

“Sorry. Shutting up.”

“Zeke held these parties. He always invited me of course, even though his friends didn’t care for me. Eventually I stopped going. But there was one party he REALLY wanted me to go to. It was at a dump. A literal dump. The plan was to get drunk and break shit. He said he thought it would be more my speed than his usual parties. He would have been right.”

“Except hen I got there, no one was partying,” continued Jessica, “They were all just waiting there, Zeke included. They said the party would be at the other end of the dump, so I followed them there. I don’t remember which of them it was, but one of them grabbed me and threw me into this pit, this really deep pit. So deep that couldn’t climb out, but I kept trying. Zeke thought it was hilarious. They all did. I’m sure it was to them. Then they just… left me there.”

“Oh God,” realized Peter, “I’m so sor-”

“I’m not finished,” she said firmly, “I considered calling 911, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was so embarrassed to have fallen for such a stupid trick. Instead I tried to climb, then I’d yell out for help. Then I’d consider calling again. When I finally convinced myself to go through with the 911 call my phone had died. That’s when I began screaming for help, but no one heard. Or if they did, no one came. I just had to sit there with the garbage and wait. I fell asleep down there in the mud and trash. I woke up to the sound of a truck. I tried to get their attention, but the truck was already doing its job: disposing of experimental waste. Guess where they dumped it?”

“I’m,” murmured Peter, “So sorry. I-”

“I woke up in the hospital,” she continued, “I had developed superpowers and everyone wanted to know how it had happened. Everyone: the doctors, teachers, my family… But… To tell them how I got my powers, I’d have to tell them what Zeke did to me. I mean, how do you admit to something like that? I didn’t know what to do. Suddenly I had these powers, but all I could think about was how little everyone thought of me: the lonely freak who got buried alive in garbage. I dropped out of college and moved to another city. The plan was to start fresh. You can see how well that turned out.”

“Jessica…”

“Anyway,” she said, collecting herself a bit, “Last night an old friend emailed me an article about Zeke’s new… business. It’s called The Violet Project based here in New York. I guess he used some of his trust fund or whatever to start a nonprofit for disadvantaged mutants.”

“And that…” searched Peter, “Upset you?”

“You’re damn right it upset me!” screamed Jessica, “After what he did to me? Now he uses his parents’ money to start some publicity-fueled organization that’s supposedly saving the world and every goddamn person who meets him will think he’s a good person and here I am… fuck.”

“Jessica…” said Peter quietly, not sure of what to say next.

“I’m sorry,” said Jessica, taking a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling, “I didn’t mean to- Anyway, yeah. That’s why you found me that way.”

“Thank you for trusting me enough to share that,” said Peter, “You know I have friends at the Bugle. If you want-”

“No. Enough,” said Jessica, “Let’s move on. Anyway, it was probably for the best that I didn’t tag along with you anyway. We both know I’m not exactly the ‘patrol the city for bad guys’ type.”

“You could be.”

“Shove it.”

“Well,” shrugged Peter, “believe it or not I ended up teaming up with someone else.”

“Who?”

“She calls herself Black Cat.”

“Never heard of her.”

“She’s new to the city,” said Peter, “She knows her stuff, though. She was good enough on a motorcycle to keep up with me swinging and can handle herself in a fight.”

“Mm-hm. And you have a crush on her,” said Jessica.

“What?” demanded Peter, flustered, “Why would you say-?”

“Well something is making you smile like an idiot right now,” said Jessica, “and I damn well hope it wasn’t my tragic backstory.”

Peter paused. He hadn’t even noticed but now that Jessica mentioned it, he realized he had been feeling this way all day. He hadn’t had a crush on anybody since high school and back then, practically no one would even talk to him. Maybe Jessica was right. Maybe he had a crush on Black Cat. And this crush actually respected him. That was exciting in it’s own right.

“Okay,” sighed Jessica, getting to her feet, “On that note, I think I should go.”

“Are you sure?” asked Peter, “I feel we should talk more about how you’re handling-”

“No,” said Jessica firmly as she opened the door to leave, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Peter nodded silently and looked to the floor. He wanted to help Jessica, but there was only so much he could do. If she didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t force it.

“But,” said Jessica after a short pause, “Let me know how things go with this Black Cat chick. She seems to make you happy and you…”

Jessica paused again, uncomfortable with the intense sincerity. Then she steeled herself and said what she wanted to say.

“You deserve to be happy, Peter.”

Peter watched the door close behind her. Once he was alone he found himself smiling again.

***

“You sure this is the place?” asked Spider-Man.

“Yes,” nodded Black Cat, dismounting from her motorcycle, “I staked it out this morning.”

The two stood beside the small and poorly maintained Warehouse 33. It was no secret that New York’s warehouses were a hotbed for criminal activity these days and this one was not excerpt. These guys were pedaling Oscorp tech and needed to be stopped as soon as possible.

“How do you want to take this one?” asked Spider-Man, “You want to handle it like we did the arms deal on 51st?”

“No, too many unknowns,” responded Black Cat, “I think we’re better off handling like we did the gambling house at Reilly's Pub.”

“Sounds good,” nodded Spider-Man.

The duo had been on patrol together consistently for a few weeks now. At first they had a hard time figuring out how to handle incidents together, but through trial and error they learned each other’s styles and become an effective crime fighting team.

Spider-Man slowly approached the locked side door and gripped it. He nodded to Black Cat, who stood at the ready beside the door. Spider-Man nodded again and pulled the door open by force, breaking the lock in the process.

“You hear that?” someone inside said.

The man poked his head out the door a few seconds later, where it was promptly punched by Black Cat. The man stumbled in a daze for a moment before Black Cat put him in a choke hold and slowly lowered him to the ground as he passed out. Spider-Man had run inside by then. He quickly found himself in a tightly closed in hallways just wide enough for one person.

“Mikey?” shouted someone around the corner.

Spider-Man leapt straight up and latched onto the ceiling, flattening himself along it. The thug rounded the corner looking for his buddy just in time for Spider-Man to swing down from the ceiling and kick him to the ground. The man looked back up at Spider-Man and opened his mouth to yell, but Spider-Man quickly shot a web that smothered his mouth and pinned his head to the ground.

Spider-Man made it to the stairways and up into the rafters and catwalks of the warehouse. Down below were countless large wooden boxes stacked up and being wheeled around on carts and forklifts. Standing in the center of the room, addressing various other gang members and giving orders when necessary, was a woman dressed in all blue with a dark blue diamond tattoo across her eye.

“That’s certainly a bold look,” whispered Spider-Man to himself.

He looked about the room and watched as several men left to get some tools and did not return. Black Cat was starting to make her move. Spider-Man decided that it was his turn to do the same. He carefully eyed one man as he walked behind a pile of boxes to take inventory. As soon as no one else could see him, Spider-Man leapt down from the ceiling, landed behind him, and punched him just hard enough in the back of the head to knock him out.

_Great!_ he thought to himself, _If we keep this up, we can take care of all this without-_

“Who the hell is that?”

“Grab her!”

_Nevermind._

Spider-Man crawled up the side of the boxes and peered over the top. Sure enough, he saw Black Cat being forcibly held by two large men who dragged her over to the woman with the diamond tattoo.

“Black Cat,” she smiled.

“Francine,” responded Black Cat dryly.

“The lady’s name is Shriek!” barked one of the men, forcibly grabbing Black Cat’s face as he said so.

“Hey!” shouted Spider-Man, “All these wooden boxes are really cool! Could one of you tell me which one is the Ark of the Covenant?”

“Spider-Man!” shouted one of the men, taking an arm off of Black Cat to draw his gun.

Black Cat immediately took advantage of this opportunity and ripped her arm free of his grasp and elbowed him in the gut. She then grabbed the gun out of his hand and fired it into the foot of the other man holding her. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor and Black Cat pointed the gun directly at Shriek.

Shriek responded by opening her mouth and releasing the loudest, highest pitch, and most disorienting sound Spider-Man had ever heard in his life. Black Cat was launched back by the sheer force of the vibrations, landing hard on her back several feet away as the gun went flying.

“Cat!” screamed Spider-Man.

He shot a web line to the ceiling and swung on it directly toward Shriek. He was only a few feet away from her when she turned around and screamed directly at him. He had never felt a sensation like it. It was like an impact had struck him on the inside of his chest, all the meanwhile his hearing was blasted by a noise that felt like it was ripping his eardrums apart. Finally came the nausea and dizziness and the next thing Spider-Man knew he was squirming on the ground as numerous people were running at him with wrenches and pipes in hand.

Spider-Man rose to his feet to face them, but his vision was still bouncing around like the world was tilting back and forth. He had barely gotten to his feet when his spider-sense jolted him back to reality just in time to catch a wrench headed directly toward his face. He ripped it out of the perpetrator’s hands and returned it with a punch to the nose, knocking him back. His spider-sense blasted his sense again as more and more blows came.

Black Cat had returned to her feet, dizzy and with no spider sense to stabilize her. Most of the gang was surrounding Spider-Man now, trying to beat him down while they had the chance. Shriek was focused on Black Cat, watching her snidely as she carefully steadied her balance.

“I thought we had a deal,” said Shriek casually, “You stay out of my business, I stay out of yours.”

“It looks like our business has crossed paths,” muttered Black Cat.

Shriek screamed again, blasting Black Cat back into the wall. Shriek approached Black Cat and continued screaming, worsening the pain in her head and the overwhelming feelings of disorientation. Black Cat tried to tough it out, but it continued to get worse and worse until she began to feel the warm sensation of blood leaking out of her ears.

“CAT!” screamed Spider-Man.

The web slinger latched one of his webs onto the foot of an attacking thug and then pulled the web with all of his strength, swinging the victim in a clean circle around him and knocking away most of the attackers before he let go and sent him flying. He punched and kicked down the remaining thugs before turning his attention to Shriek.

Shriek had noticed this by now and turned to face him. He began a sprint towards her, but she cut him off with a scream that blasted him into the pile of crates. He went to get up but she followed it up with another long scream, violently rattling his ribcage and overwhelming his head with searing pain. She stopped screaming to look down at Spider-Man and speak to him.

“Any last words, smart ass?” asked Shriek as she approached him.

“Yeah,” panted Spider-Man, “When you open for Kiss, could you tell Gene Simmons I say hi?” 

Shriek opened her mouth to scream again but was stopped by Black Cat wrapping a garotte around her neck from behind. Shriek choked and coughed, letting out loud short, earsplitting screams in sudden bursts as she did. Spider-Man fired a web directly at her face, further muffling the noise by covering her mouth. Shriek finally broke free of Black Cat and began grasping at the webbing on her face. Before she could tear it away though, Spider-Man leapt back to his feet and punched her to the ground. She was finally out cold.

“Whew,” sighed Spider-Man.

“That,” smiled Black Cat, keeled over in exhaustion, “was amazing!”

“That’s one word for it.”

“Come on,” said Black Cat as she stood up straight and approached him, “You have to admit, that was exciting!”

“Cat,” said Spider-Man confused, “You almost died…”

“I know!” she exclaimed, “But I didn’t! You saved me! You swung in and you… Wow. You’re really something, Spider.”

“Um…” he stuttered back nervously.

“You know I have to admit,” she continued, “When I met you I thought you were just another dork in tights.”

“...thanks?”

“But you proved me wrong!” she said, now inches from Spider-Man’s face, “You’re good at this. Like, really good at this. Lots of self-righteous men in tights have powers, but you… You know how to USE them.”

“Uh…”

Black Cat was now right up against him. She was clutching the front of his suit with both hands and holding him against her. He felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement as he felt her body pressing into his. She pulled her face closer to his.

“I think we’ve patrolled enough for one night,” she whispered, “Don’t you?”

“Well…”

“Come on, Spider...” purred Black Cat as she rubbed her hands up Spider-Man’s chest and to his neck, “We’ve earned this…”

Spider-Man thought of what to say in response, but found himself without words as Black Cat slowly slipped her fingers under his mask and rolled it up just past his lips. Her face leaned in closer and closer to his, arms now caressing his sides. Spider-Man wrapped his arms around her and leaned into the kiss, feeling a warm sensation as they held each other closer and kissed harder.

She was right. He had earned this.

***

Jessica placed her laptop on her newly purchased folding table that now stood in place of her old desk. She scrolled down the Daily Bugle’s justice page. She made a habit of keeping up to date with any major criminal or superhuman activity in the city, since more often than not it would eventually affect her line of work. Incidentally, the section usually featured Peter’s photography (usually of Spider-Man), which she made a point to look at as well. He really was one hell of a photojournalist.

Today an article entitled “Mutant Suspected of Black Market Arms Deals Apprehended” accompanied by a photo of a woman with a face tattoo wrapped up in webbing. Jessica recognized the woman from previous news articles. She was an up and coming gang leader who went by the name Shriek.

Jessica angrily shut the computer when she saw a recommended article regarding The Violet Project. It was infuriating how difficult that was the avoid.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in, it’s unlocked.”

“Hi!” said Peter cheerily as he walked in.

“You’re in a good mood,” said Jessica in surprise, “You riding that high on taking down this Shriek chick?”

“No. Well, yes. Well, sort of,” sputtered Peter quickly as he paced back and forth, a spring in his step.

“Out with it, kid,” said Jessica.

“It’s Black Cat,” he said excitedly, “She was there last night. We took Shriek down together. You should have seen us, Jessica, we make such a good team! We took down the whole gang! It was amazing!”

“You’re jumping for joy about how much fun you had beating up gang members?”

“No it’s not that,” said Peter, “It was afterwards when she was thanking me for helping her. She told me how good I was at this stuff and how much she liked working with me and-”

“Holy shit,” realized Jessica, “You got laid.”

Peter squealed with delight.

“Has she seen your face?” asked Jessica.

“Well yes, but-”

“Wait. Do you even know who she really is?”

“What do you mean?” asked Peter, happy energy fading.

“When she’s not wearing the tights,” said Jessica, “Who is she?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because she’s seen your face. Spider-Man’s face!”

“I thought you’d be on my side here,” said Peter irritably, “Didn’t you tell me I deserved to be happy?”

“Yes,” sighed Jessica, “and I meant it, but-”

“So can’t I be happy that I finally found someone who wants to be with me for once in my life!?”

“That’s not- Wait,” realized Jessica, “Oh God, Peter… Was last night… Was that your first time?”

“No!” said Peter indignantly, turning red in the face, “Well, maybe.” 

“Jesus…”

“So what?!”

“Peter, you need to take a second to-”

“What’s the big deal!?” demanded Peter, “What have I done wrong!?”

“She’s seen your FACE, Peter!”

“So have you!”

“Yes!” shouted Jessica, standing up abruptly, “And that was a mistake too!!”

Peter didn’t respond. He just stared back in angry silence.

“I’m sorry,” muttered Jessica, “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just you’re… You’re too trusting, Peter. People like me and this Black Cat chick… Either of us could easily take advantage of you and you’d be powerless to stop us.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” said Peter sternly.

“It’s not-”

“You know something?” said Peter angrily as he opened the door to leave, “Just because some scumbag was shitty to you in college doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t fend for ourselves. We don’t all have your trust issues.”

Jessica winced as the door slammed shut behind him. She slumped back into her chair. She looked around her dirty apartment, taking in the feeling of loneliness that accompanied it. She stared at the hole she had punched in the wall the other night. Maybe Peter was right. Maybe if she didn’t push so many people away...

“I need a drink,” she sighed.

***

“Which floor?”

“Last report placed them on the 73rd.”

“And the elevator’s down?”

“Yup.”

“Damn. Alright,” sighed Captain DeWolff, “Tell the boys to man the exits so we catch them on the way out.”

“You think they haven’t thought of that?” chimed in a voice from above.

“Spider-Man!” shouted the other officer, drawing his gun and pointing it at the upside down web slinger hanging beside DeWolff.

“Hey!” shouted Spider-Man, firing a quick burst of web at the gun and pinning it and the officer’s hand to the car beside him, “Careful with that thing! You’ll shoot your eye out!”

“Relax,” DeWolff assured the panicked officer, “He won’t bite. He’s just a pain in the ass sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Flattery will get you nowhere.” 

“Are you going to tell me what you want or are you going to snark all night?” asked DeWolff impatiently.

“Just dropped by to get the update,” said Spider-Man, “I’m on my way up to take care of the situation now. I’ll leave them gift wrapped for you like always.”

“Try to leave them conscious and without serious injury,” sighed DeWolff, “It gives their shitbag lawyers less to work with.”

“No promises!” shouted Spider-Man as swung away.

Spider-Man leapt and latched onto the side of Oscorp Tower. Now that Norman was gone*, it seemed like some petty thieves were trying to take advantage of the situation by robbing Oscorp. Spider-Man had suspected as much since the Oscorp tech was still occasionally showing up on the streets being sold by gangs like Shriek’s.

*Due to the events of [Jessica Jones and Spider-Man: Real Heroes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20905046)

These burglars were in the main tower rather than one of the storage facilities, which meant thieves weren’t after the equipment. They were after something else. Spider-Man’s guess was data.

Spider-Man fired a web as high as he could onto the side of Oscorp. Then he did the same onto the other side. He braced himself by gripping each of the taut webs, leaned back to let gravity pull him downward, and pushed himself farther down the building with his feet. This tightened the webs even more. He did this until his muscles were straining to keep him in place as the webs pulled tighter and tighter against his resistance. Then he lifted his feet.

“Whoa…” whispered an officer as they saw the Spider-Man launching himself up the side of the building like a slingshot.

Spider-Man kept his body straight as he soared upwards through the air. As he began approaching his destination, he flipped forward in the air. This slowed his momentum and redirected himself into the side of the building. He caught the rifle-mounted flashlight out of the corner of his eye and reacted instantly, kicking forward and smashing the window as he landed on all fours on the office floor.

“73rd floor!” announced Spider-Man loudly, “Criminals, flashlights, and bad decisions!”

Two heavily armed men turned to him and pulled their triggers. Spider-Man dove behind a desk as bullets sprayed the ground where he had just been. Spider-Man quickly looked over the desk, fired a web at the far gunman, and yanked him into the other gunman between them with enough force to knock them both out.

“You’re right,” he said, “That joke would’ve landed better if I had come in through the elevator shaft.”

He scanned around him and saw two gunmen running at him from the entrance to a private office. Osborn’s name was still written on the door; it was the CEO’s office. Spider-Man quickly dispatched the two and kicked in the door.

“Come on!” he shouted playfully, “Can’t this poor company go two weeks without- Cat??”

Standing in front of the desk typing away at the computer was indeed Black Cat. She looked up at Spider-Man and gave him a smile as she unplugged a USB from the side of the computer.

“Spider,” she said as she began to walk around the desk and toward him, “You made it.”

“Cat,” said Spider-Man nervously, “What’s going on?”

“Just grabbing something,” she smiled, now directly in front of him, “I’ll be on my way shortly.”

“Were you- This was you?”

“Aw,” frowned Black Cat playfully, “Are you disappointed in me, Spider?”

“Shriek...” realized Spider-Man, “She was your competition…”

“And I couldn’t have taken her out without your help.”

“Cat-”

“I know, I know,” she said quietly, “You thought I was a hero like you...”

Her body was pressed up against his by now. He felt the same rush of warmth he had the previous night, but this time the feeling disgusted him. He hated how badly he wanted to hold her, to kiss her. Her henchmen had just fired their guns at him, trying to kill him. Still, he fought back against his primal desire to be close to her.

“That’s enough,” said Spider-Man, forcibly grabbing both her wrists and pulling them off him as he held her in front of him.

Black Cat struggled, but had no hope of breaking free. Spider-Man’s grip was thousands of times stronger than a normal person’s. She glared at him. It was a look he had never seen on her before: angry and full of contempt.

“You’d turn me in?” she spat, “Just to protect Oscorp’s data?”

“Those men had automatic rifles,” responded Spider-Man, “This isn’t about what you’re after, it’s about who you’re willing to hurt to get it.”

“Oh,” she sneered, “This isn’t about that at all, is it? This is about me. You’re mad at me for lying, aren’t you? Get over it, kid.”

“Watch it,” hissed Spider-Man, tightening his grip and causing her to wince in pain.

“Let me tell you something,” she said quietly, “That night at the warehouse, after we took down Shriek… How was that for you? Did it feel nice? Did you feel accomplished?”

“I said watch it!”

“Did you feel loved?”

Spider-Man let out a roar of anger as he threw Black Cat to the side, slamming her into the wall. She grunted in pain as she collapsed onto the floor. Spider-Man approached her slowly as she got to her feet.

“Well let me tell you something,” she grunted, “For me it was just another night. You were just another mark. There was never anything special or impressive about you.”

“Shut up!” shouted Spider-Man as he clenched his fists, ready to end this.

“No one could blame you though,” she grinned, “Lots of people fall in love during their first time.”

Spider-Man froze in his tracks.

“Oh, you didn’t think I could tell?” she laughed, “Everything about you screamed ‘virgin’! That mask doesn’t hide what a loser you are, you know.”

Spider-Man was trembling. His fists were still clenched, but he felt too small and powerless to go through with it. He felt like such a weakling, like such an idiot, like an absolute failure. Those feelings all multiplied exponentially as Black Cat pulled a taser out of her belt and jammed it into Spider-Man’s rib cage.

His whole body convulsed as pain seared through every fiber of his body. Spider-Man clenched his teeth tighter as his muscles locked up and he fell to the floor, unable to stop his fall. He felt his saliva pool in his mask as it drooled out of his convulsing mouth and felt his crotch go warm as he lost control of his bladder.

“One more thing about that night after the warehouse,” whispered Black Cat as she crouched beside Spider-Man’s helpless body, “Your… inexperience? It showed. It REALLY showed.”

Spider-Man continued to convulse on the floor as Black Cat walked away cackling.

***

There was a knock at the door.

Peter buried his head in his pillow and wrapped it around his head.

“Peter?” asked Jessica from the other side.

The knocking continued.

“Peter, you there?”

Peter groaned quietly to himself.

The door flung open with a bang as Peter heard the _snap_ of the locking mechanism breaking. Jessica walked in and looked directly at him.

“Do you always break in when you don’t get a response?” he asked.

“I read about the Oscorp burglary,” she said, “What happened?”

“Go away.”

“I thought you were dead,” she continued impatiently, “Showing up to stop a burglary and then disappearing? That’s not like you.”

“I didn’t disappear,” he said plainly, “I failed.”

Jessica sighed quietly to herself.

“Well then you’re lucky to be alive,” she said after a moment.

“Thanks.”

“Oh come on,” said Jessica, getting annoyed, “This can’t be the first time you screwed up. What is it? Is this about the other day? Because if a fight with me turns you into this-”

“It was Black Cat.”

“What?”

“Black Cat!” shouted Peter angrily, “You were right, okay!? I should never have trusted her and I’m an idiot for falling for such an obvious trick.”

“Peter…”

“Would you just leave?” he asked, turning away from Jessica, “You were right all along. I shouldn’t trust anyone and that includes you.”

Jessica looked at Peter as he lay hopelessly on his bed. He was completely devoid of the bright energy she gotten used to glowing off of him. It hurt her to see someone feeling as alone and powerless as she had. The familiarity of it all stung worst of all.

“Did you love her?” she asked after a minute.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Peter, “I’m just another mark to her anyway.”

Jessica felt herself swell with anger. She did recognize that feeling. The lack of control, the shame, the feeling of absolute worthlessness and loneliness. She hated that feeling more than anything. It hurt her deeply to see Peter going through it. Jessica clenched her fists as she realized that unlike her, he didn’t have to.

“Jessica?” said Peter, turning to look after realizing she hadn’t responded.

She was gone.

***

“You lost or something?” asked the bouncer.

“Teeth or eyes?” responded Jessica.

“Excuse me?”

The bouncer was tall and broad shouldered, easily weighing over 300 lbs. He stood with his arms crossed over his puffed out chest looking down at Jessica.

“I’m about to hit you real hard,” she continued, “and when I do I’m going to break part of your face. Would you rather it be your teeth or your eyes?”

“Listen, lady-”

Jessica leapt toward the bouncer and swung her fist. It collided with his mouth as she felt several teeth loosen and break. She landed behind where he had stood as his body came crashing to the ground, face bloody and groaning in pain.

“Teeth it is,” she said to herself, forcing open the locked door.

Jessica had gone right home and done her research. She read the witness accounts of the Oscorp burglary and approximated a profile for this Black Cat. She matched the description of a cat burglar responsible for a number of other heists. Some questions directed at the right people revealed that this bar was where folks went when they were interested in that sort of job. Jessica figured it was where Cat recruited her muscle.

Jessica peered around the bar as she entered the main area. The lighting was mostly red, making it difficult to discern facial features in the more heavily shadowed areas. The whole place stank of cheap booze and cigarettes. Jessica could feel her boots sticking to the floor with every step. Intimidating figures sat in almost every available seat and the only ambient noise was that of angry arguing and the occasional sound of shattering glass as a drink was knocked over or smashed for fun. Had she not been in such an awful mood, Jessica would actually have quite liked the place.

“Yeah,” she heard a woman laugh, “He was just some nerdy kid! It doesn’t matter what kind of powers they have, puppy dog eyed losers like him make the best marks.”

Jessica turned her scowl to the corner, where she saw a slender woman laughing at a booth with two muscular men on either side of her. She had a black undercut and wore a black blouse with matching skinny jeans.

“So what’s your next target?” one of the men asked.

“Yeah Black Cat,” said Jessica, “What’s next for you? The world is dying to know.”

“Black Cat?” snickered the woman, “Everyone here calls me Felicia.”

“Then they can’t know you too well,” snapped Jessica, “or they’d be calling you something much more colorful.”

“Hey,” said one of the men angrily as they both stood up and approached Jessica, “Watch your-”

Jessica grabbed his arm and rotated it, forcing him to bend over as she twisted it back painfully. The other man made a move toward them and Jessica kicked the first man into the second, knocking them both onto the floor before they scampered off in fear.

“Shit,” a patron whispered, “She a mutant or something?”

“Who let her in?” asked another.

“Listen, if you’re mad about some burglary, the deed is done,” said Felicia plainly, “I’ve already sold the data to my clients and I can’t exactly return it. I don’t know what you intended to get out of me, but there’s nothing to- Oof!”

Jessica had pressed her knee into the table and slammed it into Felicia’s abdomen, pinning her into the booth. Felicia let out a cough of pain as the pressure built. Her breathing became strained as she desperately pushed at the table, gritting her teeth as beads of sweat began to form on her face. Most of the bar was watching now.

Jessica released the pressure from her knee. Felicia let out a gasp for air as she nearly collapsed onto the table. Jessica grabbed her end of the table and lifted upward. Felicia let out a series of pained grunts as glasses, plates, food, and drinks spilled all over her. 

Felicia was sputtering and shaking the crumbs out of her eyes when Jessica walked up and grabbed the front of her shirt. She lifted Felicia into the air and slammed her onto the floor behind her. Felicia cried out in pain as she hit the concrete. Jessica walked over and gently placed her boot on Felicia’s face, pressing it into the floor enough to cause severe pain but not enough to injure her.

“What do you think would happen if I pushed down as hard as I could?” asked Jessica.

Felicia didn’t answer.

“If you were going to say a violent and painful death,” she continued, pressing harder, “You’d be correct.”

“What…” grimaced Felicia, “...do you want from me?”

“In a few seconds I’m going to lift my foot,” explained Jessica calmly, pressing harder still, “When I do you are going to leave this bar without another word. You’re going to get on your motorcycle and drive out of this city. You’re going to KEEP driving. You won’t even THINK of looking back. Because if I ever catch wind of you being back, you and I are going to have this little dance again. Only next time I won’t be feeling as forgiving. Do you understand?”

“...yes,” whispered Felicia.

“One more thing,” said Jessica, lifting her foot, “That kid you were talking about is stronger and braver than you will ever be.”

She watched in satisfaction as Felicia scampered to her feet without looking back and ran out the door. To Jessica’s surprise, the bar began cheering. She turned around in confusion as several of the patrons raised glasses to her.

“Check this chick out!” one shouted.

“I wanna run with whoever SHE’S running with!” added another.

“Hey lady, what are you drinking? Next one’s on me!”

“Whiskey,” said Jessica, “Neat.”

***

Spider-Man crouched on the fire escape as he listened to the deal going on below him.

“And it’s all untraceable?”

“Yup. It all predates Osborn’s arrest, so the feds wouldn’t even know to look for- HURK!”

Spider-Man had webbed the dealer in the throat. He used that web to throw him into a wall, leaving him choking for air on the ground. The buyer pulled a gun out but it was quickly webbed away. Spider-Man webbed him again in the face and leapt down, kicking him in the head and knocking him out cold. Spider-Man turned his attention to the dealer, who was in pain but still conscious.

“I’ve got some questions,” said Spider-Man angrily, “and if I don’t get answers this is going to be become VERY unpleasant for you.”

“Jesus,” coughed the dealer, “You’ve gone as crazy as that psycho bitch friend of yours.”

Spider-Man paused for a moment in confusion. Then he fired a web at the dealer’s chest and yanked him up to his feet, catching him by the collar of the shirt and slamming him into the wall as he continued to cough in pain.

“What are you talking about?” Spider-Man demanded.

“You don’t know?” asked the dealer in confusion.

Spider-Man didn’t respond. Instead, he punched the wall behind the dealer and left a crater several times larger than his own fist.

“Okay, okay!” said the dealer, “A few nights ago in Goat’s Head Tavern some skinny lady with a gay haircut was bragging about making you her mark. Then some OTHER woman in a leather jacket walked in and kicked the shit out of her, nearly killed her even. She told her to leave town or else and, well, she did. That’s it, that’s all- Oof!”

Spider-Man had dropped him to the ground, fired a web onto a nearby building and swung off without another word.

“So,” muttered the dealer sarcastically to the unconscious buyer, “You still interested, or…?”

***

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” said Jessica, “it’s unlocked.”

“You ever think about changing that?” smiled Peter as he walked in, “This is a sketchy part of town you know.”

“Hi,” said Jessica in perplexion, looking up from her laptop, “You seem better.”

“I know what you did, Jess.”

“Excuse me?”

“You gonna come clean or are we going to do this whole ‘you help me out from behind the scenes but never openly acknowledge it’ thing?”

Jessica smirked at him. For as dorky as he was, she did often find him funny.

“Thank you,” he said earnestly, “You’re a good friend.”

“Sure thing, kid.”

“You know what else you are?”

“Don’t say the H-word,” said Jessica, smiling in spite of herself.

“Fine,” nodded Peter, “but one of these days I’m going to get you to admit it.”

“Unlikely.”

“Maybe we can even get you a costume!”

“Gross.”

“I’m seeing something in white,” mused Peter, “with pink highlights.”

“Oh yeah?” responded Jessica snidely, “Are you also seeing the beating I’ll give you if you keep talking?”

“Alright,” he chuckled, “I’ll give you some space. Oh, but you might want to check the Bugle’s site today. There’s a story you might be interested in.”

Jessica raised an eyebrow as Peter shut the door on his way out. She clicked her way to the news site and looked at the newest story.

“I’ll be damned…” she whispered.

The headline read “Major Nonprofit Faces Criminal Charges in Money Laundering Scheme.” Sure enough, the story was about The Violet Project. An anonymous tip led federal investigators to quickly determine Zeke Dias was using the nonprofit to move money around for his family’s illicit activities. All donations had been embezzled and numerous members of their staff had turned out to be anti-mutant bigots. The organization would soon dissolve and many of its members, Zeke included, were facing years in prison. The accompanying photo featured Zeke’s face of absolute disbelief as he was led away by a police officer. She looked at the credited photographer.

“Peter Parker,” she whispered happily, “Just what the hell are you?”

***

**Earlier…**

_Damn it!_ Felicia thought to herself, _How could I be so stupid!?_

She clenched the handlebars of her motorcycle tightly as she drove down the streets, heading straight for the Holland Tunnel out of New York. She didn’t know who that woman who attacked her was, but if she could find Felicia once, she could find her again. It wasn’t worth sticking around. She’d have to find another city to do business in.

_I got sloppy,_ she thought, _Talking about my marks by name in a public setting… Bad move. Next time I’ll-_

“Shit!” she cried out.

A white cord shot from one side of the street to the other several yards ahead of her, creating a clothesline ready to knock her clear off her motorcycle. She sharply turned to the left, but was unable to turn away in time. Instead she used the momentum to tilt the motorcycle onto its side, moving her leg out from under it just before it scraped along the ground and slid safely under the cord. She got off her motorcycle and turned to face her attacker.

“Impressive,” the woman said, “You might really be as good as they say. You looking for a job?”

The woman was dressed in a white-gray tactical suit lined with weapons and equipment. She was muscular, broad shouldered, and had a battle-ready stance with such confidence that it put even Felicia on edge. Her hair was a striking platinum blonde.

“I’m not doing any more jobs in this city,” said Felicia.

“I know.” 

Felicia looked her up and down.

“And just who are you exactly?”

“Call me Silver,” she said, “Silver Sable.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lol this was a pretty big drop from the lighthearted stuff I had written before it


End file.
